26 October 2006
By LCpl Andrew McEllly
Digging at a 2,000-year-old archaeological site was an experience a small team of NZDF personnel are unlikely to forget after their recent salvage operation at the foot of an ancient Buddha recently. But this was no search for ancient relics. It became a sensitive recovery mission after a 500kg incendiary bomb was discovered buried at the foot of the 53m-tall Buddha statue, which was carved into the mountains of Bamyan in the sixth to seventh centuries.
International Council on Monuments and Sites spokesman, Edmund Melzl, explained the deadly device had been found by workmen who’d been employed to help with the international restoration effort to rebuild two Buddhas that had been destroyed by the Taliban.
“Initially, when they found the bomb they thought it was a piece of tin but the men know to be careful digging around the site as we’ve found mines and grenades before”, said Mr Melzl. “Soon we became aware that it was not a harmless piece of tin but something more sinister, a bomb, and the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team was called in to help.”
Capt Paul Garrod, Ammo Tech officer for NZPRT, was given the job of making the site safe.
“We had a bit of difficulty identifying just what it was that had been found; we weren’t sure if it was a cluster bomb, which is highly explosive, or an incendiary bomb, because both these items appear similar”, he said.
“Quite a bit of research went into identifying the device before we could be sure of what it was we were dealing with and begin making it safe to move and then be destroyed.”
High-explosive bombs explode and cause damage from the blast, whereas incendiary bombs contain substances that ignite like a fiery gel; they are ideal for setting fires to cities or killing troops in the open. With chilling effect, the Allies used incendiaries to raze the German city of Dresden towards the end of WWII.
Capt Garrod’s colleague, Air Force armourer Cpl Jim Johns, explained that once an incendiary bomb goes off, the fire is near-impossible to put out. “If you got any of the stuff on you you’d never put it out with water”, he said.
Damaged, the bomb probably had a chequered past before being dug up at the foot of the Buddha.
“It could have been dropped when the Russians were here fighting the Mujahadeen, failed to go off and been recovered”, said Cpl Johns. “Then when the Taliban came and were blowing up the Buddhas it was probably placed alongside other ordinance, failed to go off and was buried under the rubble.”
As we dug away in the mid-day sun, I couldn’t help but think of the strange twist that had us, soldiers so far away from home, working on such an historic site. Removing the bomb was done by what Capt Garrod called a semi-remote technique. “We used a block and tackle with a pulley to remove it from its original site. Then we rigged up a second pull to change its direction, to get it into a prepared protective site for destruction”, he said.
While this was being done, Cpl Johns prepared two shaped plastic explosive devices designed to provide a controlled ignition of the bomb’s contents. With the rest of us behind cover, Capt Garrod carried out the final pull of the bomb from inside an armoured Humvee, then preps the charges for demolition. Checking that no one was in the danger zone he fires the charges –a loud explosion rips through the air and a white mushroom cloud slowly rises above the Buddha site.
Mr Melzl praised the NZPRT’s successful removal of the threat. “I am so happy with what has happened here today. Thanks to the PRT we can resume our work and no damage has been done to the Buddha, which was our biggest fear”, he said.
The 500kg bomb was the single biggest item destroyed by the NZPRT’s EOD team during Capt Garrod and Cpl Johns during their six-month tour.
“It was our 56th job since arriving in late-April”, said Capt Garrod. “We’ve done 45 small jobs and blown 11 multiple items but there’s no doubt this was the most significant in terms of the importance to the local people and significance of the site.”
Ends